Warm Coat and Hat

 Just for fun, I recreated this little Christmas tree decoration in lace.

Dipping a toe into the world of tape laces, I made a tester piece before trying out a design of my own. There is a bit of 'Muaiga' lace involved, as there usually is when I make a piece of lace! (Made Up As I Go Along)

The 'wriggle' I drew freehand.

The main technique, I think, is to work the curves without pins on the inside, using turning stitches instead. This means the tensions have to be kept under control or the curves soon become uneven.

The curves are held in place with edge stitches being twisted around pins halfway between the outer and the nearest other edge pin. This is done in advance and picked up when the other side of the join is working an edge stitch to sew into the waiting one.

Because of the multiple twists, and the longer length of the loop, this is much easier to sew into than a standard edge hole. I used both crochet hook and eyes out tool, both worked as easily as each other.

The main difficulty with this wriggly style lace is to keep the pins already in the work covered while the pattern is turned around many times, keeping the tape facing downwards maintain tension.

The hands and feet are made with leaf tallies using the two edge pairs.  They work out as a tally, then turn with a cloth stitch around the pin, and work a plait back to the edge.  Work a cloth stitch around the same pin, then continue working.  

At the edge of the hat, having worked the first two rows, I used two passives in a plait to join the second row to the first.  Work through the passives and back to get the worker higher up the edge and work half stitch with extra pairs added along the edge of the brim.  At the far side, add 4 pairs, this is 3 passives and an extra worker pair to make the two pair edge.   

Tie a knot at the top, cut and leave a tassel.   I

This is an experimental piece, being my first in this style of lace, so there will be much better solutions for some of the workarounds I have used.  There is so very much to learn!  I perused Idrija lace to find some of the techniques and, in time, will have a better understanding of this versatile lace.  

Mad Calm Quilt

I started by using up old scraps of fabric, then I was buying more fabric to cut up, only to sew it all back together...madness!    

Using the 'crazy log cabin' style l made a blocks now and again, added a layer of microfibre fleece and backing fabric before oversewing around the square spiral to create the same spiral pattern on the back.  Amazingly, thanks to investing in rotary cutters, cutting mats and quilting rulers, it all lined up perfectly. 

The little puzzle ball is made from scraps.  Quite ingenious how all the pieces fit together.  

 

Sequin Fish

The Adventurous Aquarium is growing!

This fish sparkles with sequins, beads and thread, there should be enough glitter for the magpie in all of us!  

I chose to make a chevron edge on this version of the Sequin fish but the chevron can easily be replaced with adding extra passive pairs, sparkly ones would be good. 

I chose silver sequins and I worked them with 4 pairs of Gütermann silver glitter thread. When adding the sequins, the pairs from each side do not cross over each other in the middle.  Work them with one pair at a time.  The left pair sews through the centre, then returns to the left side, and the right to the right.  Place a pin in the centre of the sequin so the tensioning of the sequin thread does not disturb the equal distribution of the sequins. On a larger area of sequin ground, this is quite important. 

4 pairs of silver for adding the sequins (when cut off, they are reused for the tail sequins so wrap more thread on one bobbin than the other).  

4 pairs of Perle 8 in two contrasting colours for the chevrons. Simply increase the passives if you don't want to do the chevrons. 

6 short pairs to add in for the passives in the fins. 

4 pairs passives (placed on each side of the chevron threads)

4 pairs of workers. 

There are tutorials for the chevron edge, adding sequins and beads on my youTube channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/@LesleysLace/

Triangle Tree

Another pattern to play with.  I used honeycomb for the filling with two twists throughout the ground.  You could work this without the twists around the pin, and add sequins or larger beads.  I used a thicker thread and made the passives quite tight to make the edges stiffer.  Using a neutral ecru thread for the two pair edge to avoid interfering with the ombre effect of the three green shades of the passives.  

Option 1 is to start at the top with a plaited rope using two pairs, these can then be used as workers or passives as they enter the top of the tree, adding more pairs as described in the 'Beaded Bracelet' or the 'Charity Ribbon' patterns.

Option 2 is to start with the bottom, widest edge.  This means you will be adding all the pairs to start with, throwing out pairs as you work up to the top.  At the top, throw out all but the last two pairs and make the plait loop as the last thing.  The ends to be sewn and knotted into the top of the tree.  

The honeycomb pairs are added from the sides, these two diagrams show the pairs added, and the second shows how they 'bounce' off the sides and some get carried along with the passives for a pin or two.

The little red square can be added afterwards by sewing in some new pairs.

Roseground Bracelet

This is a version of the Beaded Bracelet in an earlier post which uses the same loop and button fastening and the same way of adding and throwing out the threads.  In place of the beads, I used a roseground stitch in two shades of pink.  

Roseground is a very versatile stitch with over a dozen versions.  In this piece, the colours change places depending on whether you choose half stitch or cloth stitch, and if you start with the threads in different places etc.  The roseground section could have just been made in one colour.   The 'rose' is the fancy circle in the middle, at the sides, there are half roses.  Due to the stitches I chose for this piece, the colours stood out in a bell shape at first sight, totally unexpected but quite a nice touch for this bracelet.  

 

The passive and roseground threads were two different sizes, this is not important, they could have easily swapped places and made just a slight difference to the piece.  The worker pairs are a standard Egyptian Cotton machine quilting thread of about 27-30 wraps per centimeter.  Using a finer thread for the workers makes the stripe of passive colours on the edges show up better.  

 I do like the idea that lace makers will have a play with my designs and use different threads to create another version.  Not everything has to be in white!

Video tutorial on my Youtube channel.  https://youtu.be/0qluduvbMJQ?si=073o4W2B7C5tAX-K

 

Leaf Tally Fish

 Leaf Tally Fish, a new addition to the Adventurous Aquarium. Print out at A4. Add pairs for the fins and for the inside edge passives of the tail.  I use mostly Egyptian cotton, machine quilting thread in a variety of colours.  They measure about 27 to 30 wraps per centimeter.   

The leaf tallies can be replaced with a standard crossing of plaits, or make a small half stitch or cloth stitch bud (circle) in the middle where the threads would normally cross.  This is a good way to make patterns where the amount of leaf tallies puts you off, the 'bud' works with pairs or plaits entering it.  You can see how this works in the little fish I made to use up some thread ends.  

Video on how to measure wraps per centimeter and my other video tutorials here...  https://www.youtube.com/@LesleysLace/

Pattern prints at A4

Thread end fish, using chevron stitch on the edges, and buds in the body.  

Beaded Bracelet in Bobbin Lace

My new Beaded Bracelet pattern introduces a few new techniques which are also shown as videos on my YouTube channel.  The beaded bracelet pattern can be altered to create matching earrings, pendant and necklace.  To make it you need 10 pairs of bobbins, small beads, and a full rainbow of coloured threads.

The pattern is printed as an extra long bracelet, it can be tailored to fit by cutting the pattern in half in the middle and lining up the beads to shorten as much as you wish.  To lengthen it, simply print two copies, and insert an extra length in the middle.

If using thinner threads than recommended, add more passive pairs, if using a thicker thread, use fewer passive pairs.  Keep the worker pair around the 22-30 wpc size. 

This pattern prints out at A4 size. 

https://www.youtube.com/@LesleysLace

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Tally Star Muaiga lace

Teeny owls checking out the new Christmas Star fresh of my pillow.   I used a few new techniques and enjoyed the challenge of figuring out all those crossing trails.  Not really a single lace style because l had to mix parts up to get the result l wanted so again, it's a "Muaiga"  (made up as l go along) piece of lace rather than pure Bedfordshire or Cluny.   

70 pairs approximately used for this one, l do enjoy having a pillow full of white wound Parsons bobbins to work with.   

 

Moving pictures!

Moving pictures, how very modern!   I have had a go at making some youtube videos to help with making my seahorse and, hopefully, other beginner patterns.  

https://youtube.com/@LesleysLace?si=4f-UGPlgqaVhOrxD

Play with a fishy template

Continuing with the aquarium theme, l drew an ellipse shape to make into fishes.  Threw in seed beads, chevron braids, sequins and a variety of stitches to create these four fish.  

 

 

Bobbin Lace Aquarium

 Thank goodness l finished the seaweeds at last.  My seahorses were floating around all over the place😄  

Curly seaweed is made with random seed beads along the edges and the fronds feature chevron stitches.  

I made lots of leaves over the years, using up left over thread after big projects to test out new stitches and edges.  I thought they would work well as little fish for this aquarium photo.

 

 

Adventurous Seaweed!

Adventurous Seahorse needed a home so here it is, Adventurous Seaweed!

 I'm off to see what I can find to use as adventurous thread to make these 😃

 

Adventurous Kitty

 Gift pattern of my tiny Adventurous Kitty. Ideal for inserting in keyfobs, phone cases and cards.

This little Adventurous Kitty design is aimed at the confident beginner and beyond. Two Kitties are provided already filled with Bedfordshire Lace and Honeycombe ground. The Kitty Template is left empty for you to put in your own fillings. Use a picot edge for a fluffier Kitty, add colours, add sequins, add a new ground, be adventurous! Prints out at A4.

 
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Muaiga Muffins

In my customary 'made up as I go along' manner, I make cakes the same way.   This is the latest favourite bake.  It's all about making it as simply and least messy way possible, I am not a fan of cleaning up mess afterwards. 

I don't usually weigh ingredients, so this time I have put the bowl on a scale and set it to zero before adding the next ingredient. 

Not sure why, but I started with the fat, half margerine and half peanut butter this time, it looked about right to me and the scales say 116g this time. 

I usually use much soggier bananas, often two rather than one and add more flour, oats, maybe coconut to off set the wetness.  This time I cut up a small eating apple into little bits and cut the banana about the same.  

Next the eggs go in.  These lovely posh orange yolked eggs were not as large as normal so I chucked 3 in. 

Sugar weighed in at 107g, I don't use much sugar, the fruit is often sweet enough but I tipped the jar a bit too fast.  To offset the sweetness, I didn't add the sultanas or coconut. 

Couple of handfulls of rolled oats.  Forgot to weigh them!  I like to throw these into any wet mixes because they hold the cake together well, are good for old folks and make it easier to carry on walks etc. 

Good old self raising flour.  173g this time, could have added more, would have made more cakeiness to wrap around the fruit but it was enough this time as the banana wasn't over ripe.

Forgot I had these crystalized ginger pieces so cut some up and threw them in. 

Chocolate chips - yippee!  (I may have saved a few in the bag for my secret stash, shhh!)

Yes, I admit it, I use my marmalade making spoon for cake too.  It has a long handle and I put my mixing bowl on a stool so it's easier to stir stuff up.  It is a bit stiff to start with but soon blends with gentle folding.  We like the lumps of fruit so no point whizzing it all up in a mixer (and creating more fuss and washing up).

This looks about right.  A good batter consistancy and plenty of lumps left.  I could add more flour or oats but it seems to cook better left like this.  I didn't put any spices in this time, you can add any you like, personally I go for mixed spice and maybe a bit of molasses or black treacle for a winter cake. 

Makes 6 or 7 large muffins (or cakes as we call them).  I always use an extra little tin to make one for my Mum who likes to cut a little cake into pieces. 

Middle shelf of the oven at gas number 3 or 4 (the numbers have rubbed off the dial) for about half an hour.  Test with a clean cool knife poked down the centre, if any mixture comes up, then it needs a bit longer, if melted chocolate comes up, you can lick that off later. 

Also known as battle cake, these are particularly handy on walks, shoved in a pocket or handbag.  There are not many cakes you can do that with!

Happy caking!

Logrithmic Bow - Updated June 2024

Pattern has been updated, and made available in 2 sizes to allow for different paper sizes in US.  Now in A4 and US Letter size. 

Digging through my old designs, I found this experimental logarithmic Torchon lace pattern.  

I made a few of these using the basic pricking with different stitches drawn on by hand. 

Seems a shame to leave it languishing in the dark so here I present another little gift for those who like to play about with a pattern.

It takes 18 pairs, you can add in gimp threads, or some extra passive threads at the edges.  

New A4 size pattern

Letter size pattern

Old Pattern

Adventurous Seahorse Video

Dipping into the world of video tutorials.   A few verbal typos but videoing in one take using just a mobile phone is nerve wracking!  

https://www.youtube.com/@LesleysLace

Hope this helps you to begin making and playing about with my Adventurous Seahorse gifted pattern and other hobbies as they happen. 

Adventurous Seahorse

Presenting a new gift pattern of the Adventurous Seahorse.

The idea behind this gift pattern is to encourage experimentation using a simple pattern which can be altered again and again.  

It will help if you have experience with cloth stitch, half stitch and adding extra twists and adding pairs to start with, then add picots, braid edges, mix the cloth with the half stitch, add beads, add sequins, add different threads, go mad with colours!

Start with cloth stitch along the nose, this will give you an idea of how many passives you will need to add for your chosen threads.  Aim for a snug cloth stitch, if it is too spaced out, add more passives.   The only thing that remains constant is the worker pair, try and keep this to the same thickness of thread, even if it changes bobbins if you work in half stitch. 

This pattern can be used for teaching and sharing as the original A4 only, with due respect to my copyright.

Guide to thread sizes. Add more or less passives as needed. 

8-10 cm = DMC 80 (27-29 wpc) 

12-13 cm = DMC 40 to 50 or equiv.  15 cm = no 20 to 30 crochet threas 14-16 wpc. 

 
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Lost Art

 My Mum is fascinated by the worms in her compost bin and likes to check they are doing well.  It tickled me when she said she had to lean in and stir the compost because she couldn't see them when it was newly set up.  This image came to mind.  I embroidered this design onto a piece of her skirt from the scrap box.  

 

Pillow quilts

 Before l made bobbin lace, l used embroidery as a colourful way to combine my doodles and threads.  I heard about using little quilts as bobbin lace pillow covers and  had great fun making these.

Such a good way to enjoy seeing the work l did and not have it languishing in a box.

This is 'Tally' a little elephant l designed and made in Bedfordshire lace.  Sitting in the garden lends itself more to embroidery than lace making so l made Tally again in full colour.  

Thread Chicken

I played at thread chicken again😁🐓.  Several bobbins were running out of thread. I was so near the end of a piece so l risked  tying short ends to fresh bobbins, hoping l would finish before the knot was reached.  It got It got very close!

This pattern is from a book, not one of my designs for a change. A good way to learn new techniques is to pick the most complicated piece in the book to start on. 

A Simple Heart

A cute little heart template, work as a simple outline or fill with anything you fancy, even add a frilly edge if you like!    This works at 4 cm tall with a thread like dmc30, or a machine sewing thread in cotton. 

 

Hotch Potch

Hotch Potch, the rare 'Threadendicus Ridikulus' bird likes to play with spangling beads and read lace magazines.

This daft bird started as a quick sketch, destined to disappear in the depths of the photo files until l was looking for something to use up all the odd colours and different size threads left on bobbins which were not being used, but didn't want to waste.  

Himself did point out that Hotch Potch closely resembles the huge, fierce, but now extinct 'Terror' bird which stood taller than a man, and could probably have eaten one!

I like to think that Hotch Potch will show a little more restraint and l don't mind losing an odd spangling bead to him if it stops him nibbling my ankles!

 

Tiny dragon

 Where else would you find a tiny glass dragon but on a tiny mushroom pincushion?

Muaiga Lace - Little Fox Howl

Little Fox Howl.

 Looks a bit like Milanese, but it is what l call 'Muaiga' lace. 

The fun of this piece is that there is no pattern other than the outline, the filling made up as l go along which gave rise to the acronym 'Muaiga'   Made Up As I Go Along...or Made Up As You Go Along. 

The direction of work and number of bobbins are what l actually used, there is no need to follow these suggestions. 

Pillow tool tidy

 l needed something to keep my longer tools handy without taking up space on my pillow or rolling away all the time.  This is what l made, a pillow tool pocket to pin onto the side of my angled pillow.